Cool Name of the Week: Sonia

Anyone else catch the Tonys tonight? (Or were you all watching Game of Thrones? I admit I had to switch off Neil Patrick Harris and crew for an hour or so to see how this horrific—yet awesome—season came to a close!) This is the one awards show where I generally catch at least a few of the nominees—and as it turns out, the list of nominated plays and musicals is chock full of name options—on the musical side, there's Annie, Matilda, Pippin, Edwin and Ella (minus the Cinder for a better baby name option). On the play side of the column, there's Ann, Mary, Virginia and Cyrano. And of course, the Tony Award-winning play that's a mashup of intriguing names—Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.

Of the names from the Tony Award winner, Sonia seems like the most likely to make an impact. After all, it's actually a Russian/Scandinavian variant on the top girls' baby name in the country, Sophia. Depending on the source, the name either means wisdom or love—both fabulous meanings for a baby's name, don't you think? The name hasn't left the top 1000 baby names since before 1900—though it is on a bit of a downturn right now. Maybe the play will help bring it back into the limelight—if Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor doesn't already give it that extra oomph.

If you love the name Sonia, you need to go either short and sweet or much longer with your middle name. It pairs well with middle names like Rose, Marin, Hope or Catherine.

So what do you think of Sonia? Or is there another Tony Award-nominated name you've got your eye on? (P.S. Anyone else out there totally geek out over the fact that Cyndi Lauper scored a Tony?)